Former Labour Party spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo, has criticized the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), accusing its leadership of turning the party into a subordinate force under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He argued that President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, as a minister in his administration has diminished the PDP’s political influence and credibility as an opposition party.
Taking to its official X handle, Vanguard Newspaper reported Okonkwo’s scathing remarks, where he blamed the PDP for its internal crisis, saying the party’s leaders have become mere “servants to the APC.”
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, February 7, 2025, Okonkwo dissected the PDP’s struggles, highlighting how the party has accommodated those who openly worked against its interests. He specifically pointed to the actions of the G5—a group of five PDP governors, including Wike—who opposed their party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2023 election.
“Look at what is going on in the PDP. Some individuals formed the G5, openly defied the party’s interests, and yet, PDP still accommodated them. What is the result? They are now angling to take over the party completely. Wike, after undermining the PDP, was rewarded with an APC ministerial appointment. The implication is that the PDP leadership is now subservient to Wike, who himself is a servant to the APC. Essentially, PDP has become a ‘servant of servants’ to the ruling party,” Okonkwo stated.
Reacting to Atiku Abubakar’s recent claim that the APC has been bribing opposition parties with N50 million to weaken them ahead of the 2027 elections, Okonkwo dismissed the allegation as an indictment of the opposition’s incompetence rather than proof of the ruling party’s wrongdoing.
“I will never blame the APC for whatever is happening within the opposition. Excuses and success do not go hand in hand. When Atiku said APC gave N50 million to opposition parties, I wasn’t ashamed of the ruling party—I was ashamed of the opposition. If there were no willing receivers, there would be no available givers. It is a legitimate political strategy for any party to weaken its opponents. The real issue is that the opposition parties are so weak and corrupt that they fall for it,” he argued.
Okonkwo further charged opposition parties to take responsibility for their failures, emphasizing that their lack of resilience exposes their incompetence.
“The opposition has failed the Nigerian people. Instead of complaining, they should take responsibility and fix their internal structures. If you don’t want the ruling party to destabilize you, then reject their offers and stand firm. But the fact that they can be so easily bought shows that they are neither competent nor credible,” he concluded.
Okonkwo’s remarks underscore the growing divisions within the opposition as Nigeria approaches the 2027 elections. With Wike’s influence within the PDP raising concerns about internal party control and Atiku’s claims of APC interference, the future of Nigeria’s opposition remains uncertain. Will the PDP regain its footing, or has it indeed become a mere extension of the ruling party’s influence? The coming months will determine whether the opposition can regroup or continue on its path of political subservience.
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